The Steel Guitar Forum

Yup. Im a dedicated steeler. I even missed my girlfriends birthday just to go to a steel guitar convention ( I guess you know how that turned out ).

Well, maybe between day jobs and on weekends I tend to be a steelman, at least for awhile. Maybe it's just a phase. I went through it once in the '70s, and have been in it again for a few years. But the day job thing is what keeps food on the table, a roof overhead, the kids alive, and promises something for retirement if I live long enough for that.

Steve Broatch wrote:I'm not a 'steelman'.

I can see that sort of dedication would improve my playing no end but I'd hate to give up playing guitar, banjo, dobro, harmonica, mandolin etc.

I'm a sucker for trying new instruments out. I got hold of a cheap fiddle lately to try out. I'm hopeless but it's great fun.

I find if I concentrate on one thing for so long I begin to lose interest and my playing becomes stale. That probably says a lot about my playing.

I'm like Steve. In fact I couldn't have written it better. I'm a Jack-of-all-Trades, Master-of-none.

to have backed up a few artists & friends as well as fronting my lil' band every once in a while, does'nt make me a steelman
first of all, i don't depend on steelin' to make a living & secondly, i did'nt consecrate enough time & energy on my chops to become one

i figure steeldabbler will do

From the definitions given above, I suppose I would classify myself as a dilnteetta(sic), since I never amounted to much, but, thanks to my God, I was awakened to reality early enough that I didn't sacrifice my entire existance and my family to try to become something that almost no one cares about, and probably I didn't have the talent for in the beginning.

I appreciate the steel-guitar icons as much as anyone, but I don't envy them, and I don't consider my life a failure because I am not included with them.

My other interests' in life have been rewarding financially and emotionally, and I would not change anything even if I could.

Gene, are you kidding? No sir, you ARE a STEELMAN.

I guess this would qualify me as a real steelman.
I spend as much time playing PSG as I do with my special girl friend "Patches". I treat them equally and then I turn them upside down in their respective cases fold up their legs and slide them under the bed.

I don't know about all this.

Why should being a "steelman" be of any consequence at all in comparison to a part time "steelman" or a hobbyist part time "steelman". I have heard some "steelmen" that did not sound any better than the hobbyist.

I think that your enjoyment and your love of the steel guitar should be more important than whether or not you eat sleep breath the thing. I know pro players who don't have half the enthusiam for the instrument as the part timers/hobbyists/owners/enthusiasts do.

This is an odd topic.....

Bill Hatcher wrote:I don't know about all this.

Why should being a "steelman" be of any consequence at all in comparison to a part time "steelman" or a hobbyist part time "steelman". I have heard some "steelmen" that did not sound any better than the hobbyist.

I think that your enjoyment and your love of the steel guitar should be more important than whether or not you eat sleep breath the thing. I know pro players who don't have half the enthusiam for the instrument as the part timers/hobbyists/owners/enthusiasts do.

This is an odd topic.....

Bill,
I'd be willing to bet that a good majority of us here agree with your comment. I certainly do. But I don't believe that the OP intended any malice with this thread, but rather just to incite a lighthearted discussion:

Billy Carr wrote:( This is not intended to stir up arguments or to put anybody down, just a topic for fun and reading.)

People know me as a steel man, and sometimes ask, "What else do you do?" I don't know what to tell them.

Billy Carr, I guess I would qualify as a "sorta kinda". I'm 63 and trying to learn the Dobro and the NPS console. I love the music and the Forum. I've learned a lot from the Forum. I'll keep plugging away and I might be able to progress to a reasonable level. By the way, I live down the road from you at 614 Hwy 590 W.. Stop by or send an email. I'd like to meet you.

David McMillan

Billy Carr, I guess I would qualify as a "sorta kinda". I'm 63 and trying to learn the Dobro and the NPS console. I love the music and the Forum. I've learned a lot from the Forum. I'll keep plugging away and I might be able to progress to a reasonable level. By the way, I live down the road from you at 614 Hwy 590 W.. Stop by or send an email. I'd like to meet you.

David McMillan

I love to play the steel, but I've been a resonator player a lot longer, and I think I'm better at it. I still like to pick up the 6 string now, and then, and I keep a Martin flat top close at hand. I guess I qualify as a jack of some trades. My classic under achiever mentality I.E. laziness keeps me from spending hours poring over tab, and learning other players licks. I just play songs I like, and have fun when I'm here in my office alone. Playing out is fun too, and some times I actually go out do it. John

Sorry the double post!

kinda jp

No

I have been one in the past. I played every day and made my living with the Steel. I went through about a 6 year period where I never even set one up. But now I don't have time to practice and only get to play once a week. So I don't consider myself a real Steel Man anymore.

Not yet.

I'm a real steelman. I don't ever want to be known as a part time steelman. I'm a singin' steelman, meanin' that I also sing in addition to playin' steel. So, there ain't no kinda sorta to it, I'm a full time Greer, South Carolina steelman. I've actually got a cool story about bein' called Steelman, I was at a Dierks Bentley/Hank Williams Jr. show in Greenville, SC and I was hangin' out with Tim Sergent(Dierks Bentley's steelman), my friend Michelle Poe(Hank Jr's bass player) and Ricky Chancey(Hank's guitarist, who is also a steelman in Mobile, Alabama, and we were all standin' around talkin', when all of a sudden Ricky comes out and says, "Brett, the steelman!" I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. I wondered how Ricky knew I'm a steelman.

Brett

No, I definately cannot say that I am a steelman. I've owned my steel for a couple of years, but I've been busy playing lead guitar, which is what I've been doing for about 30 years. Maybe I'll devote more time to the psg when I'm good and ready.

Gene Jones wrote...

I appreciate the steel-guitar icons as much as anyone, but I don't envy them, and I don't consider my life a failure because I am not included with them.

There's a lot of wisdom in that sentance. I feel the same way. As for myself, it would be "kind of".
Mitch

According to the initial question I guess I'm a real steelman even though I have a home,a beautiful wife, a daughter in college, and a son who is a senior in high school and a real job as a steelman. Imagine that!

Everything I said in my earlier post is true, but doesn't really explain my view of my relationship to the instrument.

When I play any instrument, including steel guitar, my focus is to try to be a "musician". I try to do what I honestly think works for the music, regardless of where it takes me. I think, at this point, that I'm quite partisan to the steel guitar, but not so much that if I think something else works better in a given situation, I won't do it.

I bought or built all my instruments with the intention of using them as backing on my multi-tracked recordings. When I felt a piece needed a particular instrument I would buy one and play it. I've always used the pedal steel as a backing for my own vocals and those of others: I never intended to do solos on it. I happen to like C6, so I play non-pedal most of the time.